o1 // voice

[greenstark]

[The voice feed starts with a half a minute of silence, almost as if some accident has caused it to be turned on. And then--a quiet sound, almost like a dog's yip, but with a rougher edge. Another yip, coaxing, and finally, something more human, a breath--]There’s a tale of a scrying glass that was used to talk across leagues and oceans, but it was

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[ video ]

[wolvesremain]

[ The yip catches Grey Wind's attention before it does Robb's and the wolf's ears perk up as he inclines his head toward the watch on his master's wrist. It's the voice of his dead brother that catches Robb's full attention.

It can't be. The thought leaves his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he studies the watch, trying to remember exactly how to breathe. When Robb arrived, Jon mentioned he'd known the dead to walk through experience rather than stories. This has made Robb wary and suspicious, admittedly.

When he responds, Grey Wind's muzzle is visible as is the side of his face. ] ...Bran?

[ video ]

[greenstark]

[Sansa had told him: Robb is here, but to see him, even if it is this strange moving portrait of him--

Sometimes it seems as if Bran has been waiting half his life for Robb to come back home, as a king triumphant and lord of Winterfell (though they told Bran that he was lord; though their father is the real lord)--and then waiting for him to ride home to save Winterfell and all within from Theon Greyjoy--and always, waiting for him to come home as his brother, more than anything else (a stupid dream that he knew was unreal the very moment he dreamt it).

And now Robb is here. They are, all of them (save for Rickon, which is worrying, but Bran can't think of him just now), here, together once more.

He can read a slight uncertainty in Robb's voice, and on his face, too. They will have told him that I am dead.]

Robb-- [A lord would be serious. A man grown would greet his brother with a somber face. Bran's will fails him, and he smiles, quickly, fighting it down. Robb will believe him. Robb will know.] Robb, it's me.

[ video ]

[wolvesremain]

[ Once Robb moves to his feet from the dirt he was kneeling in and grabs the small sack he'd brought with him, Grey Wind starts in the direction of the wagons where he knows his brother to be. Without hesitation, Robb trails closely behind the large wolf, attention and thoughts narrowing to the fact that his little brother is here.

His little brother who perished within the walls of Winterfell because he trusted a kraken's word instead of listening to their lady mother.

Robb, it's me.

Their steps are swift, nearly to the point of running, and when Robb catches sight of that familiar mop of hair, his breathing is labored but not from the run. ]

It is you. [ His voice is hushed. His mind sees a ghost of all things, but he knows, just as Grey Wind recognizes Summer, that it is his brother before him and not some cruel joke of his consciousness. Within another heartbeat, he closes the distance and moves to wrap his arms around his brother if he'll permit it, the hug both fierce and affectionate in nature

[ action ]

[greenstark]

[There is no question of permission. I will appear lordly, Bran tells himself, I will show him, I am nearly a man grown, but--just as it had with Jon and with Sansa and even with Arya, in a small way--that resolve fails him. Robb pulls him close, and Bran pulls back, heedless of all appearances. He has been waiting for his brother, and his brother is here.]

I knew you would know me. [His voice is muffled against Robb, but they are near enough that he will still be heard. Even if he could not be heard, he would not pull away--could not is perhaps more accurate still.] I knew you would, the others doubted--

[Summer is circling around Grey Wind, sniffing at his brother, his ears pricked, his tail high, all the signs of wolfish eagerness. Bran watches them over Robb's shoulder, but only for a moment. He squeezes his eyes shut, willing himself not to cry. You can't act a lord, but you can keep from acting a baby.]